Bread basket parish roasted
The bread basket parish of St Elizabeth suffered major destruction last week when fire swept across 290 acres of farmland in the parish, destroying produce, animals and vegetation.
Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton estimates that the fire has caused about $26 million in damage.
On Tuesday, several farms between Big Woods and Malvern in the parish were destroyed by the massive fire, which farmers alleged was lit by the police who were on a ganja-eradication operation.
The western parish of St Elizabeth along with the neighbouring Westmoreland are large producers of the illicit weed, a staple in a multimillion-dollar underground industry.
By Wednesday, St Elizabeth farmers woke up to a charred landscape.
Many had lost their livelihoods and by this time, were clamouring for assistance. They also said that the police need to answer questions about how the fire got out of hand. Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields, in charge of the crime portfolio, said that a full investigation would be undertaken.
On Thursday, Tufton, whose South West St Elizabeth constituency was affected by the fire, addressed residents at the Big Woods Primary School. He said that he would be meeting with affected farmers this week to discuss compensation.
Also last week ...
Wrecker racket
With no regulatory framework in place, the multimillion-dollar wrecking business is wide open to corruption, with many players in the industry raking in huge sums, The Sunday Gleaner reported.
Unlike other transport service providers who work from set rates, such as haulage operators, wrecker operators charge arbitrarily for their services.
Murder-free day
The Gleaner reported on Monday that there were no reported murders in the island on the previous Monday.
According to the Constabulary Communication Network, there were no reported murders on Monday, February 25. This is the first time for the year that there have been no reported murders in a day, after at least one Jamaican was killed every day in the month of January.
Jamaica's first woman DPP
Paula Llewellyn created legal history yesterday when she became the first woman in Jamaica to be appointed director of public prosecutions (DPP), The Gleaner reported on Wednesday,
The former senior deputy DPP succeeds Kent Pantry, QC, who retired last month at the age of 60.
Education probe
A high-level enquiry has been ordered by Education Minister Andrew Holness into the spending of the initial $5 billion allotted to the Education Transformation process, The Gleaner reported on Thursday.
Holness told The Gleaner that he expected the report, which he planned to take to Parliament, to be on his desk by Friday.
Spanish Town erupts
The fatal shooting of an 11-month-old infant, allegedly by the police, plunged sections of Spanish Town into chaos on Thursday afternoon, as angry residents mounted roadblocks along the March Pen Road to protest against the killing.
According to reports reaching The Gleaner, about 4:00 p.m. Thursday, a police party was in pursuit of a motor vehicle that was operating as a taxi in breach of its licence.
The police reportedly opened fire on the vehicle as the driver tried to escape. The infant, who was a passenger inside the vehicle, was hit in the head and died on the spot.
Ramcharan convicted in the US
A US federal court in Miami on Wednesday convicted Jamaicans Leebert Ramcharan and Donovan 'Plucky' Williams, along with Bahamian Samuel Knowles on smuggling charges.
Prosecutors said all three men could face life in prison when sentenced on May 23, The Gleaner reported on Friday.
Dutch Investigators meet with PNP
PEOPLE'S National Party (PNP) leader Portia Simpson Miller as well as Robert Pickersgill, the party's chairman, and senior party members Phillip Paulwell and Colin Campbell, last week met with Dutch investigators in relation to the Trafigura affair.
The Dutch investigators are pursing a criminal probe against one of their firms, Trafigura Beheer, which donated $31 million to the PNP last year. Under Dutch law, companies are prohibited from making such donations.
'GSAT papers secure'
The Ministry of Education has implemented new measures to secure this year's Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) papers, after the 2007 paper was leaked to a private institution in St Andrew, The Gleaner reported on Saturday.
A parent is now challenging the Education Ministry in court after she said her child recorded the highest score in the examination. However, the ministry claimed the student had prior exposure to the 2007 GSAT papers, which had been leaked to a GSAT centre where the child took extra lessons.
